Save Us Clove & Cato's Story
by LeriiiiM
Summary: First fanfiction, I do apologize if it's terrible!
1. Chapter 1

Eleri Morgan **Save Us** A _Clato _Fanfiction

Chapter One

Time slowed. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. I took in my surroundings. Fane was sprinting at me from one direction, Parker was running at me from the other. I stopped and took a second to anticipate their next moves. I inhaled deeply. A split second before Fane reached me I jumped three steps ahead, twisted, grabbed Fane's arm and pulled him over onto his back. I punched his windpipe to make sure he'd stay down while I had time to attack Parker. Parker reached me just after I punched Fane so I was ready for his easy attack. He went to kick out my knee but I spun around and kicked high aiming for his chest. I miscalculated and caught him in the stomach. Parker reeled clutching his stomach. I was only hoping to push him back, but the sound he made when my foot made contact told me I might have done some actual damage. I stood back from the scene preparing to run. The boys were both lying on the school yard clearly struggling to breathe. I looked around. Everyone on the yard stood far back staring at me like I was some alien. Great, Cato. I heard slow mocking clapping coming from behind me. I turned to look who was stupid enough to mock me while I was still seeing red. A man in a clean, black, Capitol made suit walked slowly towards me smirking. His hair was died an emerald green and it looked like an actual jewel flickering in the hot, District 2 sun. He had deep, purple lipstick on and a very pale skin tone. It was almost impossible to tell how old he was, the Capitol people were all the same, never ageing.

'Well, you certainly just gave us a show didn't you young man.' His patronizing tone angered me but I kept my face clear of emotion … I hoped. I saw behind the man a group of 7 people. Five of them were clearly Capitol from their fashion choices, but the other two I recognized. I swallowed hard and a feeling of dread appeared in my gut. The school's headmaster looked at me like I was a cockroach that needed to be squashed and Ms. Fontaine, the schools deputy, looked at me with equal disdain. The only two people in District 2, (other than the peacekeepers and my father) that could strike this reaction in me were the ones who had just seen me fight a vicious battle, leaving my attackers gasping like fish out of water a few metres behind me. When 2 minutes had passed and I had yet to reply the Capitol man coughed and started to talk. I looked defiantly into his watery blue eyes throughout his entire speech.

'What's your name boy?' He asked assessing me up and down.

'Cato Talon, Sir.' I said through gritted teeth. The man laughed a clearly forced laugh.

'A vicious warrior _and _understands how to respect his superiors.' He turned to the headmaster. 'Him. I want him. He's going to be the best victor yet!' He looked at me with glee in his eyes. My stomach dropped. He couldn't mean what he said. I was Cato Talon. I was only 12 years old. I hadn't even been to my first reaping yet. My dad was the District butcher. I was to keep my head down when I started school and in reward I would inherit the best going business in the town. My size didn't help though, people were intimidated by the size I was at the age of twelve and they chose me to pick on. But I wasn't a born to kill. I wasn't a Capitol puppet. And I knew what this man meant. He was putting me in the Academy. I was going to be in The Hunger Games.


	2. Chapter 2

**Save Us**

Chapter Two

Someone was watching me. I hate that feeling. You know they're there. A shiver went up my spine. Well Clove, you best give them something good to look at. I licked my lips and looked down the line of knives. I picked up one. It felt light in my hand but I knew it was perfect for this shot. It was a good length, the blade was about 20 centimetres. I lifted it up and made sure the person saw the blade. The silver, clean knife looked elegant in my strong but dainty hands. I chose a target. Across the weapons hall Caleb was trying to act like he was good at archery in front of the five new kids they'd brought in a few days ago. He set off the mechanical birds. Please. I watched him, smirking to myself for a while. Out of the hundreds of birds he had set off, he managed to hit about ten but only seven fell. To hurt his pride even more I called his name.

'Hey Caleb!' He turned to me with an expression of elation and frustration on his bruised face.

'Bit busy Clove!' He turned away. I put on a sickly sweet voice pretending I was hurt at his words.

'But Caleb! Look!' The second I finished the sentence I hurled the knife with deadly accuracy at the birds. I impaled two birds on the knife – a third would have been caught but the knife was just a little bit too short. The birds stopped appearing. I had commanded the attention of the hall, even some of the 18 year-olds were looking impressed at my work. Caleb threw down his bow and stormed out of the room. The new kids that were impressed by Caleb forgot about him in that second and stared at me like I was a deity. Hey, maybe I was. I flashed a smile at those kids that they would never forget and turned to see if my original audience had enjoyed the performance. The boy must have been two years older than me, he had to be fifteen at least. His arms were muscled and he was about 5ft 10in. He looked at me like he was bored but I could see in his eyes I had impressed him. How could I have not seen him before? You're either brought into the Academy by Orlando when you're twelve or your parents pay for you to start training when you're five. There was no way this guy was twelve, but I came here when I was five. I had never seen this person here. Frustration flickered across my brow.

'Who are you?' I asked ignoring common courtesy. He seemed amused at my anger.

'Nice to meet you to.' He replied. I calmed myself down and put on a front.

'My name's Clove. What's yours?' I smiled but it must have looked like a grimace. Something about this boy made my acting skills disappear.

'My name's Cato. I'm new.' The shock must have shown on my face. He was twelve! I regained composure.

'Well Cato, tip number one. Don't anger people. You're never going to make friends here by poking the bears.' I wasn't going to be intimidated by someone a year younger than me. He walked towards me. He lowered his voice.

'Who said I needed friends?' And walked off without another word.


	3. Chapter 3

**Save Us**

Chapter Three – Two Years Later

I panted heavily. He walked towards me, sword in hand. We circled each other. I can't believe I let him disarm me. That was a mistake that I would pay for dearly. Kondor was enjoying every second of this fight. My mind wasn't focused. All because of … _her. _No Cato! That's a mistake. Think of the fight and only the fight. Kondor jabbed forward and I dodged the sword easily. I needed to distract him. Trainer Valda keeps pushing me. Making me fight against a 17 year old for example.

'Scared Kondor?' The sweat dripped off his forehead.

'You wish kid.' He ran forward. He would have killed me there and then if a knife hadn't appeared in his shoulder. He stumbled sideways and fell onto crash mates writhing in pain. I turned around to see a girl with flowing black hair hide behind a pillar. I felt my face turn red. I left Kondor to Valda and the first aiders. I walked over to the pillar where Clove was 'hiding'.

'Clove! Why?' I pulled her to face me. Her grin just made me angrier.

'Because if you didn't notice he was about to make a Cato kebab out of you!'

'Clove you can't fight my battles for me! If I'm ever going to survive when I'm 18 I can't have a girl winning for me, they'll never take me seriously!' The look of pain on Cloves face was almost like I had hit her. I wished he could have taken the words back the second they slipped through my lips.

'Clove, I didn't mea-'

'No Cato, you meant it.' A tear slipped out the corner of her eye. She left before I could even try to stop her. I yelped like I had been shot. Several people turned but quickly averted their gaze when I glared at them. I left the hall and escaped to my apartment in the training centre. I didn't cry. I wasn't the crying type. I unleashed my feelings on the punching bag. Why Cato? Why are you so full of yourself that you hurt the only person you care about? From our first encounter I knew Clove was going to be someone I could rely on. The first year I was in the training centre I was so overwhelmed by everything I wouldn't let anyone in. People tried to approach me, they figured that because of my stature I would be a good ally to have. If only they knew my aversion to the things they find so easy. They joke about murder like it's not a big deal. With Clove it was different. She seemed to hate me. She'd fight me and make me look stupid. I admired that. Once we got to know each other better the pure hatred became teasing. As I became stronger she found it harder to kick my butt, but that made her stronger to. We became so close. I'd confide in her. She learnt to confide in me. Last night, we skipped midnight drills. We ran off to one of the outlying villages. We found an empty field. The stars were bright and she was showing me the different constellations.

'You see that constellation? It's called Andromeda. That one is called Draco. It's a dragon. It reminds me of you.' We laid down in the meadow to get a better look.

'Oh yes? How so?' I asked grinning down at her. I pulled her in and she rested her head on my chest. This was pretty unknown territory for us. We'd hugged before but in a celebratory fashion.

'Dragons are strong and fierce. You're the strongest most powerful person in the centre and everyone knows it. You've only been here for two years and you can over power the kids who've been here for twelve years. You don't even know your potential yet!' I silenced her rant with a gentle kiss on the lips. I don't know what came over me. I pulled back and swallowed. I looked up at the stars to avoid her gaze.

'Cato.' She whispered. I blinked and looked back at her. I wasn't expecting her to press her lips against mine and grab me. The kiss was the most intense feeling I'd ever experienced. It lasted for a a good 10 minutes. When we finally split apart there was an awkward silence. She moved and kissed me lightly on the forehead.

'Goodnight Cato.' She said gently and I watched her walk back to the training apartments.


	4. Chapter 4

**Save Us**

This chapter was pretty rushed, sorry!

Chapter Four

Stop crying Clove! What's wrong with you? He doesn't deserve your tears. Who am I kidding. I'm trying to act like he's a bad person. He's not. No matter how much he's changing. God, I love him. I don't know when I realised that I did, but I do and after last night I need him with me always.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

-Two Years Later

'Happy Birthday beautiful.' Cato grabbed my waist from behind. My 17th birthday was today and Cato had found me in the training canteen. We'd been together for two years now and I was loving every second of it. He always found a way to surprise me. He's changed so much, no longer was he the quiet, unfriendly boy- he was a strong, ruthless, murder machine. I knew he still hated killing, but when he was in the fight he thought of nothing but victory. I turned to face him. I kissed him lightly on the lips.

'Are you ready for your present?'

'Cato I said not to!' But I didn't mind anything from him.

'Oops, sorry.' He said with a cheeky wink. 'Shut your eyes.'

'Cato-' I tried to protest.

'Shut them.' I sighed in exasperation. There was no point arguing. He covered my eyes with his hands softly. 'I don't want you to peak.' He led me into another room. I think it was the weapons room, but I couldn't be sure.

'Okay, look.' I opened my eyes and blinked.

'Oh my God. Cato.' Laid out on a long desk was a row of the most perfect knives I had ever seen.

'Cato how much did this cost you?' I couldn't believe the sight before me. Each knife was different in it's own way, but each had a long tip that was gold and looked so sharp that I figured I would slice my finger just from gently touching it.

'Not important. But look.' He picked up a knife that first caught my eye. The tip was about 30 centimetres long and the handle was the deepest black with a slight curve. Thin lines of gold wrapped around the handle making it look like ivy climbing up it. Cato flicked over the to the other side of the blade and engraved in the gold was our names :

_Cato&Clove_

'Cato. Thank you. So much.' I wasn't one for expressing my emotions but I think he could hear the sincerity in my tone. 'Cato, I'll never be able to repay you for this.'

'It's a present, I'm not expecting you to.'

'I love you.'

'I love you to.' This was the first time we'd ever said it. I looked into his beautiful, blue eyes. He grabbed me in a tight embrace and pushed me against the wall. I lost track of time for a while, but I know the time I spent in that weapons room on my 17th birthday was the best time I had ever had.


End file.
